Combination desk and bed



T. B. -DBAPEIL 'COMBINATIONDESK AND BED. Arrucmon msn ocr.22. 1911. snm/Eu lune l2. 1920. 1,366,368.

Gum,

T. B. DRAPER. COMBINATION-DESK'AND BED. APPLICATIUN FILED ocT.22r. 1917. RENEwED JUNE 12, 1920.

Patented Jan. 25, 1921.

lum/nto@ Drap@ UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

COMBINATION DESK AND BED.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led October 22, 1317, Serial No, `197,778. Renewed June 12, 1920. Serial No. 388,668.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, THOMAS B. Brianna, a subject of the King of `Great Britain, residing at Detroit, in the county of Flayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in CombinaL tion Desks and Beds, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

In my companion applicatiomliled under even date, there is disclosed a novel combination table and bed, the table being convertible with ease into a bed and the bed as readily reconverted into a table. Along the same line and including somewhat similar operating mechanism is a Acombination 'desk and bed forming the subject matter of this application.

VT he present invention aims to provide a iiat top desk wherein the front and .rear portions of the desk are adapted to be lowered to provide bed head and'foot pieces. Of course the desk includes useful drawers ane some of the drawers are shiftable with the front and rear side portions of the desk so as to provide a comparatively low open structure and clearance for a spring' frame, extensions'thereof, and a mattress, all of which are concealed within the desk when the same is in such form.

My invention still `further aims to furnish a lhat top deskwith a novel shelf that may be easily and quickly swung from an active position to an inactive position and vice versa, the shelf being designed for supporting a typewriting machine .or other matter in front of the-desk.

My invention further aims to providea piece of furniture of the above class wherein the parts are constructed with a view of reducing the cost of manufacture and at the ysaine time retain those features by which durability, neat appearance, and ease of manipulating and assembling are secured.

With such ends in view, my invention further resides in the novel construction, vcombination-and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter ldescribed and claimed.

Reference will now be had to the drawings wherein'- Figure l is an end view of the desk partly broken away and partly in section;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the desk; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the bed as Aformed from the desk, and showing parts thereof broken away Fig. l is a plan of a portion of the same;

Fig. 5 is an end view of the desk, partly broken away and partly in section, showing he shelf in an active position;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a portion of the spring frame, and

Fig. 'l' is a detail view of a caster that may be used in connection with the desk.

In describing ay invention by aid of the views above referred to, I desire to point out that the same are intended as merely illustrative of va combination desk and bed by which my invention may be put into practice, and I do not care to confine myself to the precise cons ruction an'darrangernent of parts shown. The following description is therefore to be broadly construed as including such substitute constructions and arrangement of parts which are the obvious equivalent of those to be hereinafter referred to.

In the drawings, the reference characters A and B denote the front and yrear portions respectively of a desk, and these portions are adapted to be lowered on to a floor to provide bed head and foot pieces'. The front portion of the desk carries with it a plurality of small drawers and a panel, the latter forming the foot piece of 'the bed. The rear portion of the desk is devoid of drawers, but carries with it a flat desk 'top adapted to forni the head piece of the bed, said `flatdesk top concealing the panel of the front portion of the desk when in such form.

Common the front and rear portion of the desk isafbottom .board l-cut away, as at 2, so as to provide clearance for the limbs of a person sitting the desk. On thebottom board lare large end drawers Band these end drawers remain Vclosed and stationary when the desk is converted into a bed. The

vend drawers 3 are slidable-between parallel -walls 4 and 5,the latter forming the side vwalls ofthe central limb space 6 of the desk.

Connected `to the vfront and rear edges of the bottom board 1 at the ends thereof, by hinges Stare front legs 7, and rearlegs 8, adapted to have the feetv thereof swung under the bottom board, as shown in Fig. 3, so that theupper ends of the legs or`moldings Y carried thereby may rest on the floor with the legs in a horizontal position. The front legs 7 carry end panels 9 and the rear legs 8 carry end ,panels 10 and a rear desk panel 11, all of these panels being free to move y relative to thebottom board 1 and the large causing' the upper drawer work forms the vhed foot piec end drawers 3 thereon. Hinged, as at 12, to the lower ends or" the panels 10 are intermediate panels 13 and these intermediate panels can be lowered into parallelism with the outer walls 4 after the front and rear portions A and B ofthe desk have been lowered.

Thefront 7 and the end panels 9 thereof can be swung; toward thetloor by virtue of the hinges 8a and carried above the large end drawers 3, at the front ends thereof, are partitions or walls 14. 28 and 15 cooperating in supp`ortiiig small superimposed drawers 16 at theiiront portion of the desk. Besides the drawers 16 there are .l slides or shelves 17 and a panel 18 adapted io provide a bed toot piece, as shown in lligr. 3. An inclined st tionary Wall 19 provides a rear wall for the drawer structure, also for the upper part of the limb space Sender the desk.v

rllhe outer walls 4 are provided with spring' frames 2O andthese frames have rule or self loclrinp' points 21 for 'links and said linlrs are similarly connected to extensions 23, said extensions, linlrs and frames having' lateral flanges to which a spring' 24- rnay be connected, said spring` havinga the ends thereof connected to transvere rods 25 supported by the extensions 23. rlhe links 22, extensions 23 and spring- 24 have been shown as iolded in 1 with a mattress 26 in connection therewith and said mattress having-a relatively thick central portion with tapering ends suitably connected to the rods 25. To hold the linlrs and Vextensions in a folded-position, one of the rods 25 may be provided with hooks or similar coupling means 27 adapted for engagement with the other ofthel transverse rods 25. Y rl`he upper drawer'worlr of the desk has the vertical partition walls 28 in parallelism with the partitions 15 and therouter sides ot the partitions 28 ,are pivotally connected by side bars or links 29 to the inner sides of the walls/1, said side Ybars or links to be properly shifted, when the front portion A oi" the deslris lowered, this being' accomplished without any danger of the upper.d1'awer work impinging against the panel 18 which lhe front porthe legs and tion of. the desk, including the panel 18 may be swung; downwardly in an arc having 'for its 'center the hinges 8a, but the upper drawer work swings without any tilting1 action as the links or side bars will maintainV the small upper drawers constantly level Vwhile being lowered, the lowering movement beinep in synchronism with 'the legs 7 by reasonl of channel cam members 50 on the'inn'er sides ofthe panels 9 *receiving pins51Y carried by the partitions or walls 28. Asthe panels Q'arerlowered the cam members will necessarily shift the pins 51 and in so doing/g automatically lift the upper drawer work oil" of the lower drawers ana on to the floor.

To retard the movemento the front and 7 rear portions of the desln when converting' the desir into a bed, the inner sides of the end panels il Vand l0 are provider Awith .inset segment shaped racks adapted to be engaged by outwardly evtending; pins 31 car- 7 ried by the walls The racks 30 are somewhat similar to ratchet bars and together with the pins 31 constitute means for retardinfg, the movement of the frontV and porti is of the desk.

it the inner sides of the panels 9 and 10 are supports 82 these supports are adapted to reeive theY ends of the transverse rods 25 oi the spring" frame extension, said supports beinebrought into position S to rec e the rods when the iront and rear portions of the desir are lowered.

it is'thought that the manner ot' converta desir into a ano the bed into adesk will be understood without further descrip- 9 and reference will new f be had to ber feature of my invention best shown 2 and 5. Theconfrontinp,` sides of arev proy titions 15 and the walls o vided with channel rails 33, said rails being 9 made in sections, some ot which are carried by the partitions 15 fior alinement with the other sections carried by the walls 5. Slidable in the rails 33ers the trunnions 34 of sets of levers 35 Vhaving the ends l thereof pivotally connected, as at 36, to a shell2 37. The trunnioned ends of the levers 35 have hooks 38 adapted to ride into enraeernent with pins 39 at the upper ends Yot Ve rails 33 and support the levers 35 with l the shelf 37 in a horizontal position protruding forwardly 'from a central drawer 40 in the 'front portion of the desk and between the upper end drawers. The lconfronting' sides of the partitions 15 have vl holdiast devices or latches'41-adapted to engage a lever 35 of each'set andthereby prevent the shelf 37 from becoming accidentally displaced from an active position. l/'hen the shell is not in use., itis adapted l to rest upon the bottom board 1 of the desir, as shown by dotted lines'in Fig. 5, and when the shelf is raised to an active position, the hooks or cam members automatically ride into engagement with the pins 39 and throw the weibhtV of the shelf or matter thereon entirely uponV said pins;

ln connection with this piece of furniture, as well as the convertible table mentioned in the beginning', it is possible t connection*A with the legs of the desk or the legs of the table, and by referring to Fig. 7 there is a portion oi a leg 42, vhinged as at 43 to a brace or bottom board 44.v The leg use casters in Y 42 has an opening 45 and in the lower end 130 of the opening is a pivoted caster 46. Connected to the caster i6 is a pivoted link 47 that extends upwardly in the 'opening i5 and is pivotallyv connected to a bracket 48 extending into the opening and Carried by the brace or bottom board LA. ln oonsequence of this manner of artionleting the caster relative to the leg i2 and the brace 41e, the caster may serve its purpose with the leg l2 vertical or horizontal, the easter always remaining vertical, as shown by Afrills and dotted lines in Fig. 7.

What I claim 'is l. In av desk, the combination of side walls providinga limb space, a liront portion hinged to said side walls adapted to be lowered on to a floor, a rear portion hinged to said side walls adapted to be lowered on to the floor, ay desk top carried by the rear portion of said desk and adapted to provide a bed head piece when lowered, a panel normally under said desk top and carried by the front portion of the desk to be lowered to form a bed foot piece, intermediate panels between the front and rear portions of said desk and hinged to the rear portion thereof and adapted to be lowered to aline with said front and rear portions of said desk, and

means at the ends of said desk exposed by the lowering of lsaid intermediate panels and the front and rear portions of said desk adapted for supporting a spring between the bed head and foot pieces.

2. ln a desk, the combination of iront and rear portions adapted to be lowered on to a door, a desk top Carried by the rear portion and adapted to provide a bed head piece, a panel normally under said desk top and Carried by the front portion of said desk adapted to provide abedV foot piece when lowered, stationary bottom end drawers in said desk, upper end drawers movable with the front portion of said desk and vj-,Jlaoed in front of said stationary bottom end drawers when said front portion is lowered, and spring frames in said desk having oldable extensions adapted to be extended over the movable drawers and supported by the lowered 'front portion of the desk.

ln testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence oiC two witnesses.

THOMMS B. DRAPER.

Witnesses:

KARL H. BUTLER, ANNA M. DoRR. 

